No, this isn’t a misspelling.
Despite doing my annual Festive Fifty tracks at the end of last year, I never published my albums of the year list. For those that might care – and you’ve read this far – there were a handful of reasons for this.
Firstly, that I was trying to agree on an order. The final two choices I couldn’t quite make up my mind about. Secondly, there were a couple of albums I wanted to hear before I did the list that for one reason or another I hadn’t heard then. And as life changes, sometimes it’s just not possible to hear fifty albums well enough to rank them in order.
So, with that in mind, I’ve put together a top ten from last year, with a number that can be considered to have been worthy runners-up.
- David Bowie Blackstar
- Michael Kiwanuka Love And Hate
- K Fellowship (AKA Kate Bush) Before The Dawn
- Skepta Konichiwa
- Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool
- Kano Made In the Manor
- PJ Harvey The Hope Six Demolition Project
- Mogwai Atomic
- Frank Ocean Blonde
- Beyoncé Lemonade
…and worthy runners-up (in no particular order)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Skeleton Tree
Leonard Cohen You Want It Darker
Shirley Collins Lodestar
Dexys Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish And Country Soul
Kristin Hersh Wyatt At The Coyote Palace
Modern Studies Swell To Great
Emma Pollock In Search Of Harperfield
Underworld Barbara, Barbara We Face A Shining Future
Scott Walker The Childhood Of A Leader
Wedding Present Going, Going…
Lest we forget…
2014 Lisa Gerrard Twilight Kingdom
2013 Dead Flowers Midnight At The Wheel Club
2011 PJ Harvey Let England Shake
2009 Broken Records Until The Earth Begins To Part
2008 Cave Singers Invitation Songs
2006 Camera Obscura Let’s Get Out Of This Country